Archive for the ‘Münch’ tag

This year’s Dana Point Concours d’Elegance honored the 100th anniversary of Duesenberg, and numerous examples of Indianapolis’s finest automobile were on hand to mark the occasion. Among the Duesenbergs gathered for the occasion was the 1936 SJN Convertible Coupe featured in the original 1949 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, itself a Best in Show winner at the 2013 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. That makes it all the more surprising that a 1933 Packard Series 1005 Convertible Coupe, owned by Aaron Weiss of San Marino, California, took Automotive Best of Show honors at Dana Point.

In 1933, Packard renamed its “Twin-Six” engine the Packard Twelve, and models powered by this V-12 (like the show-winning Series 1005 Convertible Coupe) topped the Packard model range. The 445-cu.in. engine produced 160 horsepower and came mated to a three-speed manual transmission, which Packard claimed was good for a top speed of 100 MPH.

Only 520 V-12 models were constructed by Packard in 1933, split between the Series 1005 and the Series 1006, which was the longer-wheelbase chassis used for limousines and coachbuilt bodies. The 1933 Series 1005 Coupe Roadster rode on a 142-inch wheelbase (compared to the Series 1006′s 147-inch wheelbase), weighed a substantial 5,160 pounds and carried a base price of $3,850.

Part of the the private Flying A Garage collection in Pasadena, California, Weiss’s 1933 Packard Convertible Coupe was changed from a black livery to the metallic-silverg grey-over-metallic-green livery during a recent restoration by Nick’s Old Car Specialties in Redlands, California. Black, as Weiss describes it, is “boring,” and the metallic colors used in the respray matched Packard’s standards for custom paint options during the Depression era. Though the car’s restoration was only competed eight weeks ago, it’s already picked up a Best of Show at the Marin Sonoma Concours d’Elegance, making the win at the Dana Point Concours d’Elegance its second of 2013.

Another Packard worth mentioning is the 1931 Packard Model 833, owned by Mrs. James Edwards of Newport Beach, California, which took second place in Dana Point’s American Classics 1925-1948 category. While the car itself is impressive, the story behind it is more so: Mrs. Edwards is now 100 years old, and the Packard is the car that her late husband, James Edwards, drove when the couple dated. The car was sold at some point during their marriage, and the Edwardses later tracked it down, repurchased it and restored it to its original condition.

Mitch Talcove aboard his Best of Show 1969 Münch Mammoth. Photo courtesy of Mike Hawe and MotoZania.com.

The Dana Point Concours d’Elegance also honored the 110th anniversary of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, but it was a 1969 Münch Mammoth owned by Mitch Talcove of Carlsbad, California, that took home Best of Show in the motorcycle category. Purchased in 2012 and fresh off a recent restoration, Talcove’s Münch is a rare but spectacular sight; only 250 were built between 1967 and 1974, and just 150 were imported into the United States by Floyd Clymer. Sporting a 1,200cc engine from an NSU automobile, Talcove’s one-previous-owner example beat out the second-place-winning 1966 Bultaco by a single point.

Look for a complete list of Concours winners to be published on DanaPointConcours.org in the coming days.